End of the World Broadcast

“Um… so, hello?”

It’s been nearly a year since I woke up alone in this frozen world.

During that time, I’ve been wandering around following traces of civilization to find living people.

Unfortunately, I’ve never met a survivor even once.

“Ugh… I didn’t used to be this awkward.”

I’ve been talking to myself whenever I could to avoid forgetting how to speak.

And to prevent getting flustered if I ever met a survivor.

But after such a long absence of conversation, the very act of speaking to others has become awkward.

“……”

In the cold streets where I am the only living, moving being.

On the road covered with snow up to my calves, I smile awkwardly while looking at the drone’s lens hovering at my eye level.

So first I should greet them… and then what comes next?

Ask about the weather, ask how they’re feeling today, ask what they had for breakfast?

…No, that’s too textbook.

While it’s not bad to politely ask how someone is doing, it feels a bit strange in this situation.

“Damn, it’s been so long since I had a conversation that I’ve forgotten how to keep one going.”

Originally, a ‘conversation’ is commonly an act where two conscious people talk about the same topic, expressing their thoughts.

What I’m doing now—rambling alone to a camera attached to a drone—is actually closer to the talking to myself that I’ve been doing all along.

If I had to point out the difference, it might be that what I’m saying now could be transmitted to someone through the camera.

Even then, since I don’t seem to be getting immediate responses to my words, I could probably just blurt out whatever comes to mind as usual without any major issues…

But regardless of the objective facts, just being connected to another person made my heart pound so hard that it was quite difficult to maintain my composure.

“Umm… this is going to take some time to get used to. I’ll do my best to talk to myself as usual, so if there’s anyone watching this video, please bear with me if I say strange things now and then.”

…Though I’m not sure if my words will actually reach a living person.

Such negative thoughts crossed my mind, but I deliberately didn’t voice them.

“Wow, it’s flying well.”

Unlike its somewhat shabby appearance, the drone seemed to contain various technologies, as it flew around well on its own without me having to control it.

I don’t know if it’s reading the controller’s position or judging the surrounding situation through the camera.

But even without specifying which direction to move, it flew around on its own within a certain range, filming the city scenery and me.

It might just be my imagination, but watching the drone like this gives me a strange feeling that it’s somehow alive.

So I would occasionally toss out a comment when the drone came close.

“Today’s weather is… well, it’s still snowing today. It always is, isn’t it? Either a lot of snow falling, or a little. On really lucky days, the sky might clear for half a day, but today doesn’t seem to be one of those days.”

The countless people who lived in the city have long been in a deep sleep, and the city has ceased to function.

As a result, there’s nothing special happening, so my monologue generally consisted only of straightforward impressions of what I saw and felt, and messages I wanted to convey to whoever might watch this video.

“Fortunately, the wind isn’t too strong today. Usually, the wind is so sharp it feels like it could cut your face. I guess this makes it quite a lucky day, doesn’t it? The drone I thought was dead even got fixed properly.”

“If there is someone watching this video, and if you’re living somewhere other than this city, I hope the weather there is always warm. No, maybe being always warm isn’t great either? Anyway, I hope it’s a good place to live, whatever it may be.”

It’s not that I didn’t have conversations before; originally, I was a “boy” who really enjoyed chatting about even trivial things.

The self-talk that felt awkward at first became familiar within a few hours, allowing me to speak as comfortably as when I’m alone.

In fact, having something to talk to, even if it’s just a drone, made words come more easily and lengthily than usual.

“A bicycle is sleeping under the snow. It must have been too tired. Maybe because it’s two-tired?”

Sometimes when I get bored, I throw out wordplay that comes to mind. Or grumble about getting hungry.

I don’t know if there will be anyone who sees my footage captured by this lens, but if there is, it surely won’t be boring.

“By the way, I want to tell you, and myself too, where I am right now and where I’m going… but I can’t explain because there are no signs or place names to indicate the location.”

I don’t know what happened while I was asleep, but the world had changed too much.

Each city lost its name and was called by strange names like D-6, F-3.

And many buildings, with their electricity cut off and structures collapsed, also lost their names.

In this situation, figuring out my location wasn’t an easy task.

“Well, when I entered this city, I did see a sign that said ‘D-1’… but it’s really ambiguous. It’s not like the numbers follow in sequence as you follow the road.”

If it were like, you walk from D-1 along the road and reach D-2, that would make sense, but the numbers at the end were literally random.

Instead, when you cross the vast snowfield that separates cities, the alphabet at the front changes one by one, like H-F-E.

I’m not sure if this has any significant meaning yet.

Unlike me who came from the past, people who might have lived in this world might know about these rules or the structure of the cities.

But honestly… the possibility is low. It doesn’t look like the cities became like this just a few months or years ago.

“So I’ve been making my own map as I go around… Oh, it’s not a detailed map. It’s just marking memorable places from the paths I’ve seen and walked as shapes.”

No matter how distinctive they try to make tall buildings, they eventually converge into similar designs, making it confusing to tell where is where after walking around the city a bit.

When the sun is out, I could use it to find direction and walk in one direction, but as I mentioned earlier, days with visible sun are really rare.

So I started drawing maps to record the paths I’ve taken and to leave evidence that I survived another day.

Like assembling machines, this was something I had no prior experience with, so at first, I struggled with how to draw it and what scale to use.

But now, after some time, I can sketch without much thought. Of course, being handmade, the quality isn’t exceptional.

“Are you curious? I’ll show you after I find a place to sleep. If you’re lucky, there might be a building you recognize, and you might come looking for me.”

In a world where winter is the only season that exists, the sun sets quickly.

The sky, which was relatively bright when I went outside after fixing the drone earlier, was already darkening after just a few hours.

“So, shall we find a place to sleep soon?”

Even when the sun is out, the world is dim, obscured by hazy clouds all day.

And when the sun sets and darkness descends, unless it’s a really good weather day, you can’t see even an inch ahead.

Fortunately, even though it gets dark, dangerous wild animals or zombies don’t jump out like in movies, but the streets, completely dark without a single streetlight, tire you out just by standing in them. And because of the snow, visibility is already short, so you don’t even get used to the darkness as time passes.

Moreover, when night falls, it gets even colder than it already is, and there’s also the risk of tripping over corpses or objects in the dark.

Even if you fall, you generally won’t get hurt because the snow is piled up to your calves.

But occasionally, there are sharp objects or terrifying weapons hidden in the snow.

“It’s not collapsed. Doesn’t look like it’s going to collapse either. I’ll sleep here tonight.”

If I had to name one good thing about the city becoming like this, it’s that the concept of ‘mine’ and ‘yours’ has disappeared.

Objects lying on the street, things in houses, and the houses themselves—if it’s usable, you can just use it.

People who lived in this era probably struggled hard to get one of these houses or items. It’s quite ironic.

“I hope the inside is clean.”

Maybe because of the advanced technology of the future, or because it was a world where you had to be meticulous about securing your doors.

Most houses have multiple locks, and the windows are so solid that even a bullet would barely make a scratch. Not to mention the brutal security devices in the entrance or hallways of the houses.

But that’s only applicable when electricity is properly running.

In a city where electricity is cut off and all backup power is consumed, locks and security devices lose their meaning.

“Excuse me.”

I take out the fire axe fixed to my bag and grasp it in my hand.

“No matter how solid a door is, no matter how many devices are attached to it. As long as there’s no one to interfere, you can open it somehow.”

…Saying it like this makes me look like a thief. I hope you understand that I’m doing this to survive.

“Got it!”

The door opened quickly.

And the first thing that greeted me when I entered the house where I would spend the night was…

A person who had died by hanging themselves with a rope.

“Well, the inside is reasonably clean.”

A common, such a common scene.